In a strongly worded letter to his fellow bishops, released on March 2, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York charged that White House officials failed to consider the U.S. bishops’ concerns that the federal mandate governing employer coverage of contraception and sterilization violated principles of religious freedom. An invitation from the White House to “work out the wrinkles” regarding the mandate failed to reach an agreement, and the effort “seems to be stalled,” he said. Cardinal Dolan, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, complained that during a recent meeting with White House officials, U.S.C.C.B. staff members were told that “broader concerns of religious freedom” are “off the table.” A White House source denied that appraisal and complained that some bishops and U.S.C.C.B. staff members seemed more “interested in the politics of this thing” than in a negotiated end to the standoff.
Mandate Standoff?
Show Comments (
)
Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
The latest from america
The direct action of San Diego Bishop Michael Pham is likely to leave a stronger impression in the minds of the public—and of the immigrants who are circling in and out of court—than any written statement.
“This is not policy, it is punishment, and it can only result in cruel and arbitrary outcomes.”
“Let diplomacy silence the guns!” Pope Leo XIV told the crowd in St. Peter’s Square a few hours after the United States entered the Iran-Israel war by bombing three of Iran’s nuclear sites.
Pope Leo XIV’s statement was read at the premiere of a play about the Peruvian investigative journalist Paola Ugaz, who was subject to death threats because of her reporting on sexual abuse.